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Kisii Express effortlessly qualified for the semi-final as she seeks to end Kenya's 10-year wait for 800m gold
Commonwealth 800m champion Mary Moraa effortlessness qualified for the women’s 800m semi-final at the 2023 World Athletics Championships on Wednesday.
Moraa won the second heat in a time of 1:59.89 ahead of American Raevyn Rodgers (2:00.06).
The Kenyan has been in good form coming into the World Championships and hopes are high that she will win the gold medal that has eluded the country since the 2013 edition in Moscow, Russia when Eunice Sum claimed it.
Moraa led from gun to tape in what was a laidback race somewhat with all the runners not pushing themselves so hard.
Another Kenyan Vivian Chebet could only manage fourth place in Heat 1 which was won by world silver medallist Keely Hodgiknson who is set for a brusining battle with Moraa for the gold medal.
Naomi Korir, also from Kenya, failed to qualify after finishing seventh in Heat 3, leaving only Moraa to battle it out for a place in Friday’s final.
Moraa, the 2019 African U20 800m champion has been in great shape and so far, this season, she has been unbeaten in the two-lap race. Opening her season at the Kip Keino Classic, Moraa stunned the masses to take the win in 1:58.83.
She then proceeded to the Diamond League Meeting in Rabat, Morocco where she reigned supreme then jetted into the country for the National Championships where she also carried the day.
Her last two 800m races before the World Championships were the Diamond League Meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland, and Chorzow, Poland where she also emerged victorious.
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